Pressing of fittings onto wire or wire rope



Sept 4, 1.962 H. M. BENDER- 3,052,276

PRESS-ING 0F FITTINGS ONIO WIREI OR WERE ROPE;

Filed April 11. 1960:

Jaye/2Z0? 5 War/"0X0 JWE'V 122 2 Bender nite States atent is 3,052,276 PRESSKNG F FITTINGS ONTO WIRE 0R WIRE ROPE Harold Mervyn Bender, London, England, assignor to British Ropes Limited, Doncaster, England Filed Apr. 11, 1960, Ser. No. 21,347 Claims priority, application Great Britain June 16, 1959 11 Claims. (Cl. 153-1) This invention relates to the pressing of metallic, e.g. steel, ferrules or other fittings onto wire, wire rope or wire strand.

Examples of such pressing operations are to be [found in the fields of mechanical splicing and joining.

When using two or four part compression dies 2. flash, in the form of longitudinal rib, will normally be formed on the fitting and it is an object of the invention to reduce the flash so formed.

It can be readily understood that a fitting with no flashes is easier to handle in production and also when the fitting is coated with an anti-corrosive substance, such as zinc or cadmium, there will be little or no rupture of the coating.

The invention consists of a two or four part die arrangement for pressing fittings onto wire, wire rope or wire strand, in which each die face is of a semi-circular or quadrantal form and has short end portions inclined to the respective junction faces at an angle of 60 to 70 degrees, preferably 65 degrees.

The extreme ends of the short end portions are conveniently rounded to merge with the junction faces.

The short end portions preferably start at a distance from the junction face equal to between 0.06 and 0.075 of the external fitting diameter.

Such an arrangement of the die provides improved metal flow during the pressing operation and leaves a small substantially smooth rib on the outside of the fitting, such rib having its outer face corresponding in cross section to an obtuse angle of about 120 to 140 degrees.

The invention will be further described in one embodirnent with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is an end elevation partly in section, of a four part die set in accordance with the invention; and

FIGURE 2 shows a detail thereof, on an enlarged scale.

In the drawings there is shown a set of dies 1 acting on a circular fitting 2. The dies themselves are ar ranged to be retained in pairs in V-blocks and the upper and lower V-blocks are hydraulically pressed together to compress the fitting 2. During pressing the junction faces 4 of the dies are brought together and the relative position of the dies is retained during pressing by guide members 6, 7 and 8, the members 6 being retained by end plates 9. The lower part of FIGURE 1 is a section on the centre line of the die set.

FIGURE 2 shows, on an enlarged scale, the part of FIGURE 1 within the circle z. From this figure it can be seen that the working face 11 of each die is formed of a quadrant 12 and short end portions 13 inclined at an angle of 65 at the planes 14 of the adjacent junction faces 4. The extreme ends of the portions 13 are rounded to merge into the junction faces 4.

3,052,276 Patented Sept. 4, 1962 ,"ice

The short end portions 13 commence at a distance A from the junction faces 4, where A is equal to between 0.06 and 0.075 of the ferrule external diameter before pressing. For mechanical splicing it is approximately /6 of the rope diameter.

Various modifications may be made within the scope of the invention, such as the use of two part dies, instead of the four part set illustrated. As a further or alternative modification the dies may be arranged in sets for multi-stage operation whereby each fitting is successively subjected to a progressive series of pressing operations.

I claim:

1. A die structure for pressing a fitting having a cylindrical formation onto wire, wire rope, or the like, comprising zfour dies arranged to surround a fitting each having a pair of junction faces extending in substantially perpendicular planes, an arcuate die face in each die generated substantially about the intersection of said junction face planes as an axis and on a radius less than half the external diameter of the fitting to be pressed, and substantially straight relatively short end portions extending between the ends of the die face and the adjacent junction faces, each of said end portions lying at an angle of between 60 and 70 degrees to the adjacent junction face to receive fiash resulting from pressing of the fitting and impart thereto a controlled bead formation.

2. A die structure substantially as defined in claim 1, in which said angle is substantially degrees.

3. A die structure substantially as defined in claim 1, in which the short end portions merge with the junction faces on smooth curves.

4. A die structure substantially as defined in claim 1, in which the length of the short end portions is between albout 0.06 and 0.075 of the external diameter of the fitting to :be pressed.

5. A die structure substantially as defined in claim 1, in which the short end portions are of a length equal to about one-sixth of the interior diameter of the fitting.

6. A die structure for pressing a fitting having a cylindrical formation onto wire, Wire rope, or the like, com prising a plurality of dies arranged to surround a fitting each having a pair of junction faces and an arcuate die face between said junction faces with a substantially straight relatively short end portion connecting each end of said die face to the adjacent junction face, said straight end portions each extending at an angle of between about 60 to degrees to the adjacent junction face, said dies being arranged for movement of the die faces radially into crimping engagement about a fitting, and said end portions intercepting flash resulting from pressing of the fitting and imparting thereto a controlled bead formation.

7. A die structure substantially as defined in claim 6, in which said angle is substantially 65 degrees.

8. A die structure substantially as defined in claim 7, in which the short end portions merge with the junction faces on smooth curves.

9. A die structure substantially as defined in claim 6, in which the short end portions are of a length between about 0.06 and 0.075 of the external diameter of the fitting.

10. A die structure substantially as defined in claim 6, in which the short end portions are of a length equal to about one-sixth of the interior diameter of the fitting.

11. A die structure for radially pressing a fi-tting having a cylindrical formation onto Wire, wire rope, and the like, comprising a plurality of dies each having an arcuate die race therein formed on a radius smaller than half the outer diameter of the fitting to be pressed, said dies being movable radially inwardly to effect circumferential reduction of the fitting by said die faces, said die faces in the radially inward position thereof defining substantially a cylindrical surface interrupted by grooves extending between adjacent die faces athwart the ends thereof, each of said grooves being generally of V-section and defined by a pair of substantially straight relatively 41 short end portions disposed at an angle of approximately 130 degrees to each other and each extending from an adjacent end of a die face, and said grooves receiving flash resulting from pressing of the fitting and impart- 5 ing thereto a 'bead formation conforming to the grooves.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 758,195 Schweinert et a1. Apr. 26, 1904 10 2,144,231 Schwarz Jan. 17, 1939 2,583,625 Bergan Jan. 29, 1952 2,693,216 Kerchner Nov. 2, 1954 

